A Lucky Life Interrupted: A Memoir of Hope by Tom Brokaw
Veteran news anchor and Greatest Generation chronicler Brokaw (The Time of Our Lives, 2011, etc.) turns inward to report on his battle with cancer. It began with a constantly aching back—nothing out of the ordinary for a hard-riding septuagenarian who "attributed it to long plane rides and an active lifestyle." … All that comes crashing down early on in his book, when his doctor reads aloud a column of numbers, remarks on a spike in the protein cells, and then calmly announces that he has a malignancy—and worse, multiple myeloma, which can be treated but, so far, not cured. … Brokaw looks back on a long career in the news, with a name-dropped cast of characters, a surprising number of whom suffered or have suffered from terrible illness. In that light, the author does not incline to self-pity, taking instead an almost scholarly interest in his disease … Death is a reality here, to be sure, and Brokaw is fascinated by all its trappings, writing of MRIs and blood tests and insufferable doctors … Brokaw's account lacks the depth and fire of Christopher Hitchens' Mortality (2013), but it belongs on the same shelf as a wise and oddly comforting look at the toughest news of all.
Beach Town by Mary Kay Andrews
Bestseller Andrews introduces Greer Hennessy, a third-generation worker in the film industry, whose difficult background and current job trigger a flood of problems. … The author uses her tried-and-true formula to good effect, though. As in many of her preceding novels (Save the Date, 2014, etc.), Andrews masterfully creates an entertaining story filled with likable characters and a few lightweight, havoc-wreaking troublemakers. Although far-fetched, it's entirely fun. A perfect fit for the romance lover's beach bag.
Day Shift (Midnight, Texas Series #2) by Charlaine Harris
Day Shift by Charlaine Harris transports readers back to the dusty town of Midnight, Texas, where all sorts of paranormal happenings occur in this second book in the trilogy. Though they occasionally recall the events dealt with in the first book, residents of Midnight, Texas, know the value of accepting the past and moving on to deal with today. This book is just plain fun reading. I’ve grown to truly enjoy these characters and care about them as well. They’re a quirky bunch of delightful people, some of whom are distinctly supernatural.
Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh
…in this unflinching book…[Dr. Marsh] gives us an extraordinarily intimate, compassionate and sometimes frightening understanding of his vocation. He writes with uncommon power and frankness. And while his book may unsettle readers—so many things can go wrong with the brain, so many things can go awry in a hospital—it will at the same time leave them with a searing appreciation of the wonders of the human body, and gratitude that there are surgeons like Dr. Marsh using their hard-won expertise to save and repair lives.
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